# How can I install VMWare ESXi on one of my Dell PowerEdge server using Ansible?

**URL:** <https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-can-i-install-vmware-esxi-on-one-of-my-dell-poweredge-server-using-ansible/4568>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Tags:** vmware\
**Created:** [March 26, 2024, 7:03am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-can-i-install-vmware-esxi-on-one-of-my-dell-poweredge-server-using-ansible/4568 "2024-03-26T07:03:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mannydesalisa09](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/mannydesalisa09/32/3372_2.png) [@mannydesalisa09](https://forum.ansible.com/u/mannydesalisa09)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 7:03am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-can-i-install-vmware-esxi-on-one-of-my-dell-poweredge-server-using-ansible/4568/1 "2024-03-26T07:03:33Z")

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I am planning to automate the installation of VMware ESXi on my Dell PowerEdge Physical Host machine using Ansible. Is this possible?

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**Author:** ![mariolenz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/mariolenz/32/108_2.png) [@mariolenz](https://forum.ansible.com/u/mariolenz)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-can-i-install-vmware-esxi-on-one-of-my-dell-poweredge-server-using-ansible/4568/2 "2024-03-26T16:29:45Z")

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I’ve published a (very simple) playbook for this some years ago: [baremetalesxi](https://github.com/mariolenz/ansible-playbooks/tree/master/baremetalesxi)

I didn’t have the time to keep this up to date and I don’t know if it still works. But maybe this helps you to get started.

We’re still using a (very much evolved) version of this to install ESXi hosts. But this is where we started.

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**Author:** ![mannydesalisa09](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/mannydesalisa09/32/3372_2.png) [@mannydesalisa09](https://forum.ansible.com/u/mannydesalisa09)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 9:37am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-can-i-install-vmware-esxi-on-one-of-my-dell-poweredge-server-using-ansible/4568/3 "2024-04-03T09:37:39Z")

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Hi Mario. Thank you for taking your time and sharing your playbook regarding the automated ESXi setup.

Please forgive me as this is just the first time that I am studying and trying Ansible. Just one question, since ansible doesn’t require agent, I need to enable the SSH connectivity between the controller and the host. After generating the key, manually, do I need to manually upload the key to the host before using your playbook? Or the playbook also generates and upload a key for controller and host connectivity?

Thank you again for your help!

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**Author:** ![mariolenz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/mariolenz/32/108_2.png) [@mariolenz](https://forum.ansible.com/u/mariolenz)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-can-i-install-vmware-esxi-on-one-of-my-dell-poweredge-server-using-ansible/4568/4 "2024-04-03T17:16:32Z")

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> [@mannydesalisa09](#):
>
> Just one question, since ansible doesn’t require agent, I need to enable the SSH connectivity between the controller and the host.

You don’t need any SSH keys. Yes, Ansible started as a tool ssh’ing into Linux machines and doing stuff there. But today, there are a lot of modules which don’t work this way.

My playbook uses modules who run on the control node (`connection: local`) and connect to an API, in this case RedFish / iDRAC. In this case SSH keys won’t help you. That’s why my playbook needs `idrac_username` and `idrac_password`.

BTW if you want to automate more ESXi / vSphere stuff, both [community.vmware](https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.vmware) and [vmware.vmware\_rest](https://github.com/ansible-collections/vmware.vmware_rest) don’t need any SSH keys, either. They also use APIs where you have to provide username and password.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/1X/1882d9a01da5d8996a862359b0913cc568a39b84.svg) [@system](https://forum.ansible.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2024, 5:16pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/how-can-i-install-vmware-esxi-on-one-of-my-dell-poweredge-server-using-ansible/4568/5 "2024-05-03T17:16:53Z")

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